Re: PW#5-16: Use of /usr/src

[Ian Jackson <ian@chiark.greenend.org.uk>]

Manoj (Supercite undone):
> Christian Schwarz:
> > IMHO, /usr/local/src is the place for the sysadmin,
> > /usr/src is the place for packages.
> 
>         Not only is this a standard that we supposedly follow, it is
>  also existing practice, as demonstrated by the kernel-* packages and
>  pcmcia-modules. Any gratituos change may well break these packages
>  that have (correctly) followed the standards.

Those packages are used by a minority of users, I think.  Users who
do much development work are particularly likely not to have used them
and also to have used /usr/src themselves.

IMO, since it's fairly easy for us to avoid messing these people up,
we should make a subdirectory in /usr/src as Karl Hegbloom suggests.

Furthermore, noone has yet to my knowledge come up with a good
argument as to why we should distribute source code in .deb files,
when we have a much better scheme for source code.

I won't be held responsible for the braindamage that results when dpkg
is used to install source code which is then build in situ.

I'd like to see a policy statement that at least discourages
distribution of source code in .deb's.

Ian.